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Sunday, January 1, 2017

"Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses, 1981

Wrapping it up, that is. Christmas Wrapping is one of the handful of Christmas I can appreciate.

Lyrics like "Evergreens. Sparkling snow. Get this winter over with!" give it a snarky, sarcastic tone, but it's actually kind of corny. I love its frantic, fast pace that matches so well with the tone of the season.
I shall now bring you the tale of my ugly sweater Actually, it's not just a sweater, it's a sweater-dress. Also, it's not all that ugly. Here it is in "before" form:

The cliche that is the "ugly sweater" hails from the early 2000's when hipsters started hosting parties where guests were encouraged to wear an obnoxious and tacky garment from a second-hand store. Today, ugly sweaters are so ubiquitous that you can buy them right off the rack at Walmart and Target.
I found this dress at an early fall Savers sale and thought it would make an easy refash that stood on the border between cute/tacky.
My process: Removed shoulder pads. Cut the elastic cuffs off sleeves. Trimmed the hem.
I rolled up the sleeves and left a raw edge of the hem. A no-sew! Here's how it looked.

It actually looks pretty cute, but I was having a problem with that waist. I guess I wanted to make it a little more snug or maybe higher. I tested this out with safety pins.

I just pinched up the waist and safety pinned. This worked for me.

Well, that's a natural looking pose. Sleeves are rolled again. The sparkly metallic gold thread seems dated, but I must admit; it's not ugly. I was now low on time and needed this to wear to work. I figured I could add a tacky corsage thing?

I had a bunch of plastic, Christmas-y, flower decorations. I took that piece and pinned it to my dress. I also added the little Santa hat I picked up that week.

That outfit gets a "meh" from me. I like the hat and big brooch thing, but they don't go with the sweater dress. I think it looked best after the first cut; the picture seen after the "before" pic.
Finally...the green, silky, fancy holiday dress!

There's the "before." I got it a few years back on the cheap and figured I would sell it on Etsy. But as you can see, it just doesn't look appealing. The only thing I liked about it was the little diamond print. I didn't see it selling, so I kept it around as an eventual refashion. I finally got around to it.

It's a big '80s dress, so I'd have to start with my usual routine of paring it down. Off with the sleeves, in with the sides.

See those pleats? They were a problem. They seemed to stick out. So, I carefully sewed down each little pleat. I pinned down one side of the asymmetric button down bodice, leaving the buttons on the other side. It had a cool, kinda "new wave" look. Still, the length of the dress was too long.
Despite my love of long dresses, this one definitely held tight to its old lady look even without the sleeves. I was about to cut and pin the hem and I was like, "ughhh...I don't feel like it." There's got to be something easier, right?
Here's some clickbait:What I did to this dress will leave you speechless!

I oversold it. Nobody is speechless.
The top is already asymmetric, so why not overdo it? I cut a slit up the front on one side. But wait, there's more!
The slit just wasn't doing it enough to make it slightly sexier. I did the thing where I stand in front of the mirror while pulling at the material. See how the dress is all bunched up on the opposite side of the slit?

I grabbed a little piece of the fabric toward the bottom and pulled it up, safety pinned it, and then hid the safety pin with a bow. I put the square, shiny button from the top of the dress on a black chain necklace. I added a waist cinching belt. And I kept my boots on to...keep it real, I guess.

I apologize for not ironing down the sides of the slit. I love my unusual dress! I would have maybe worn it out for dinner last night on New Years Eve, but it was snowing so I kept it casual.

1 comment:

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